


He Was In Love

by chaoticism



Category: IT (2017), Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), F/F, Gay Will Byers, M/M, Max and Jane are lesbians, Queer Richie Tozier, Richie had IED, Richie has a soft spot for Will Byers, implications of homophobia, mentions of abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-23
Updated: 2017-11-23
Packaged: 2019-02-05 19:47:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12801060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaoticism/pseuds/chaoticism
Summary: Richie had been in love with Will Byers since he was fifteen.





	He Was In Love

At fifteen, Richie knew he was in love with Will Byers. 

 

He remembers showing up at Will’s window. He remembers how cold it was, it made his face numb and his nose run, though maybe that was because he’d been crying. It didn’t matter, Richie needed to get out of his house and Will was more than willing to ride around Hawkins with him. 

 

They settled in Castle Byers, both of them were sure that with a few more months they wouldn’t fit inside anymore. 

 

    Richie remembers ranting about his parents, how they never paid attention, and when they did it was to tell him he was an idiot. Will made it a very clear point that he wasn’t—that Richie was one of the smartest people he ever met— and that if his parents ever said something like that again, he’d go up to the Wheeler residence himself and give them a piece of his mind. 

 

Richie bit back the ‘ _ I love you, Will Byers _ ’ that rose in his throat and hugged his friend tightly.  He remembers he felt like crying. Maybe because he knew Will was one of the only people who genuinely cared about him, maybe it was because his parents were awful people, maybe it was because deep down he knew what they were saying was true, but as long as Will told him otherwise he’d be able to block those thoughts out of his head. 

 

        “Let’s go, Wheeler.” Will tugged him out of Castle Byers. “What? Why, where are we going?” Richie questioned weirdly. 

 

“I’m taking you home,” Will told him and Richie froze. Wasn’t the whole point of this “ _ adventure _ ” to be  _ away _ from home? 

 

“Not where your parents live. Where I live.” Will gave him a reassuring look and relief flooded over Richie quickly. 

 

On their way back to Will’s house Richie smiled to himself because yeah, his home was with the Byers’. 

 

_________

 

At sixteen, Richie was still in love. 

 

Will came out to him that year, saying that he’d never taken an interest in girls. Richie was proud of him. If only he could’ve gotten his shit together and figured himself out the way Will had.

 

       Richie had kissed a few people here and there. Most of them were girls, but there were a select few that happened to be boys. Truthfully, it didn’t matter to Richie who it was. He thought that if the universe lets him kiss whoever he damn well pleased without anything stopping him, he was going to take advantage of that for as long as said opportunities presented themselves. 

 

But he was still hopelessly in love with the boy with the hazel eyes. 

 

Max caught onto him fairly quickly, all of his mindless flirtings seemed to be solely directed at Will after that November and she teased him constantly. 

 

      Richie and Max were close, so he knew he could trust her word when she said she wouldn’t tell anyone. 

 

He’d picked up a habit of smoking, at first, he hated them. He hated the way he wanted to throw up when he took a drag, but he did it anyway. Max would join him every once in awhile so they could ponder about their shitty families together like real friends do. 

 

Will hated that Richie smoked, and he hated that he drank even more. 

 

     Until he got why.

 

Sure, they were still ugly habits but at least now he could put a reason behind why Richie decided to destroy his lungs and liver. 

 

Apparently, the Wheelers had been threatening to send Richie away if he didn’t “get his act together”. Mike swore up and down that he wouldn’t let that happen, but Richie knew that Mike had no power over what they did. 

 

“They can’t do that!” Will shot up, leaving Richie wide-eyed. 

 

     “Will, they can do whatever they want—“

“Except for that. They’re not taking my best friend away from me.” He told him seriously and Richie sighed. 

 

“They think that I’m a danger to Holly, Will,” Richie said as he gripped his hands together. He didn’t understand how. He rarely went near his younger sister and every time he has an episode he was out of the house. 

 

 “You’re not– You’re not a danger to anyone. I know that. Jane knows, Lucas knows, Max knows, a-and Mike knows. Even when you get that mad, you’ve never hurt any of us.” Will paced around his room. 

  
  


   “You mind telling my parents that?” Richie laughed dryly. Will sent him a look as he gnawed at his nubs. Talk about bad habits.

 

“No, if I go anywhere near them I’ll lose it.”

 

   “That’d be fun to see,” Richie said and Will dropped his hand. “Don’t you care at all?” He questioned angrily and Richie swallowed thickly.  _ Of course, I care! They’re sending me away from my friends and family because of something that I can’t control. We both know it’s not fair, but I can’t do anything to stop them.  _

 

Why couldn’t he get those words out of his mouth? 

 

   “Yeah,” He forced out as he looked down. Your parents are right, you’re a goddamn idiot. 

 

“Richie,” He started again and Richie shut his eyes. Will crouched down in front of his friend and pried his hands off of each other before tangling Richie’s fingers with his own. 

 

   “Fuck them, alright. You can stay with me and my mom. We still have my old room.” Will reassured quietly. The older boy looked up and squeezed Will’s hands. 

 

“Thank you, Byers.” He rasped and Will nodded. 

 

   “I’d do anything for you.” 

  
  


_________

  
  


At seventeen, Richie was still very much in love. 

 

   There was a night in October where Richie went off on his father. He remembers him saying something about Will– about how he wasn’t normal, and Richie figured that his father could say whatever he wanted about  _ him,  _ but not Will. 

 

Ted Wheeler was taken aback by his son’s outburst. Karen Wheeler was taken aback by the fact that her husband slapped her son so hard she was sure the neighbors heard it. 

  
  


Mike held Richie back from their father and tried calming him down to no avail. 

 

Richie ended up taking Will’s offer to move in. 

Joyce agreed after hearing what happened, of course. Richie was already like a third son to her and he was over there all the time regardless, so nothing really changed. 

 

He and Max were still as close as ever, if not more so after what happened. She made sure no one laid a hand on her friend, even if he was perfectly capable of fending for himself. 

 

She started dating the sheriff’s daughter, Jane. They were adorable and inseparable, but Jane loved Richie as much as Max did. She loved his humor and dry wit and his soft side for Will. 

 

So everyone knew about his crush except for Byers himself. 

 

   “Hey, Dick.” Jane teased as she nipped at Richie’s sides. He jumped at the sudden contact and she giggled before walking at his side. 

“What’s going on, Jan?” He rose an eyebrow. She sighed at the nickname he’d given her and a grin started to play on his lips. 

   “Prom is coming up. You should ask Will.” She suggested and he laughed. 

“Yeah, for sure. When pigs fly. Didn’t you hear he likes my brother?” Richie asked her and Jane shrugged. “I don’t think it’s true. Not with the way he looks at you.” She told him seriously. 

 

   “How does he look at me?” Richie asked with a fake smile plastered on his face. 

“All dreamy-like. Same way you look at him.” She mimicked a dreamy look at Richie shook his head. 

 

“Aw, come on, Rich.” Jane pouted. 

   “Yeah, come on, Rich. What are we talking about?” Will asked as he caught up with them.

 

“Your mom,” Jane answered quickly and Richie’s head snapped in her direction, curls flailing with a genuinely happy look in his eyes. 

   “I’m rubbing off on her!” He laughed as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Jane’s face went red and she looked down. 

 

“I don’t know whether to be proud or disappointed.” Will shook his head indignantly. 

   “Be proud, Free Willy. You’re one person away from having a group full of Richies.” He nudged the smaller boy playfully. 

 

“That’d be incredible.” Will laughed and Richie nodded. “Of course it would.” 

 

“Will, are you and Richie going to prom?” Jane pried and Richie stopped himself from rolling his eyes. 

   “I know I am. How about you, Richard?” Will looked at him expectedly. 

 

That he rolled his eyes at. 

 

“Maybe. I’ve got no one to go with though.” He said and Will shrugged.

“Now you do.” Will interlaced their fingers. Richie’s eyes widened behind his glasses as he looked around the hallway that cleared out behind them before down at their hands. 

 

“Don’t have a stroke, Ricky Ricardo.” Will chuckled softly. Richie’s face flushed and he looked at Jane who had a very satisfied look on her face. 

 

   “Fuck you, Byers.”

  
  


_________

 

At eighteen years old, Will Byers  _ finally _ admitted to Richie that he was in love with him. 

 

   It was a few months after graduation. Max and Jane were on a date, Lucas, Dustin, and Mike were at a party that Will and Richie decided to stay away from. 

 

Richie’d gotten into CalTech, to his surprise. Will didn’t doubt him for a second, and neither did Joyce. Will would attend UCLA alongside him in the fall, deciding that if he wasn’t with Richie there wouldn’t have been a point. 

 

The pair got together after prom. Will kissed him in the car on the way home and Richie was beyond ecstatic. When asked why he hadn’t said anything earlier Will told Richie that he thought there was no way in hell he’d be attracted to a loser like Will. 

 

   Little did he know, Richie had been in love with him since he was fifteen. 

 

“Love you, boys!” Joyce called as she exited the house for her shift at the store. 

   “Love you too!” Both yelled back before collapsing onto Will’s bed. 

 

“Let’s watch Nightmare on Elm Street--”

   “No,” Will groaned and Richie pouted. 

 

“Rich, we’ve seen it four times already.” Will frowned as he looked up at his boyfriend. 

 

   That felt right to think. _ B-o-y-f-r-i-e-n-d. _

 

“It’s an amazing movie! It deserves to be watched five times over.” Richie laughed and Will’s heart warmed. 

   “Please, Will.” Richie tilted his head down to kiss the moles on the side of the smaller boy’s face. Sure, Will had grown, but not by much. He still looked small compared to Richie, who was a whopping 6’2”, while Will was stuck at 5’10”.

 

Will held back a smile as Richie continued to press kissed along the side of his face. 

 

_ Don’t cave. Don’t cave. Don’t cave. Don’t cave. Don’t cave– Fuck it.  _

 

“We’re watching Star Wars afterwards.” Will breathed heavily and Richie smiled against his skin. 

“Of course.” He pressed a quick kiss to Will’s lips and felt his face flush when pulled him back down for another one. 

 

“You’re stalling, Byers.” Richie said and Will groaned. “It was worth a shot though.” Richie kissed his cheek before sitting up. 

“You are  _ so  _ lucky I love you.” Will huffed and Richie froze. 

 

_ He loves me. Oh my god, what do I do? Fucking hell, Richie. Just say it back! No, it’s been too long, he’s gonna think there’s something– _

 

“Rich?” Will scrunched his eyebrows together.  _ Fuck. _

 

“Yeah?” He squeaked out.  _ Goddamn it.  _

“What just happened?” Will asked weirdly. 

 

“N-Nothing.” He lied unconvincingly. Will gave him a look and Richie sighed. 

“You said you love me.” He mumbled and Will laughed softly. 

 

Richie suppressed a groan and moved to walk out of the room. 

 

“Not so fast, Wheeler.” Will grabbed his arm quickly. Richie slumped his shoulders. 

“I said it, and I meant it. I’ve loved you for a long time.” Will pulled him closer. Richie swallowed hard and said the words he’d been dying to say since he was fifteen. 

  
  


_ “I love you too.”  _

  
  


 


End file.
